World Leprosy Day

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World Leprosy Day
By Dr Arvind Kumar
The 30th January - the anniversary of Gandhi assassination, also known as Martyrs’ Day, is also observed as World Leprosy Day in India. Gandhi wanted to eradicate leprosy and he nursed leprosy ulcers in the days when leprosy infected people were treated by the highly caste conscious society as untouchables. Leprosy is an age old disease that still exists. The objective of observing this day is to raise awareness of one of the most stigmatizing diseases known to humanity. World Leprosy Day was initiated by Raoul Follereau in 1954 and is celebrated yearly. The reason for observing World Leprosy Day is to make sure that people everywhere know that the disease still exists, there is a simple and effective cure and we can do something about it.

Observance of this day aims to educate people on all aspects of leprosy, including disease control and elimination, rehabilitation and social problems experienced by leprosy affected persons. Proper care and awareness among the people about leprosy has been instrumental in reducing the number of people afflicted with leprosy considerably over the years. In 1950, the number of leprosy patients was 10.5 million which came down to 5.2 million in 1985 and the next decade saw the number of leprosy patients standing at 0.8 million in 1995. According to official reports received from 115 countries and territories, the global registered prevalence of leprosy at the end of the first quarter of 2013 stood at 189,018 cases, while the number of new cases detected during 2012 was 232,857. MDT treatment has been made available by WHO free of charge to all patients worldwide since 1995, and provides a simple yet highly effective cure for all types of leprosy. This shows that the menace of leprosy has not been eradicated completely. It requires persistent action and vigilance.

#Observance #MDT #Persistent #Vigilance #Eradicated #Reports #LeprosyDay #InfectedPeople #Worldwide 

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